Hi all,

I am new here and as the title says I was apparently diagnosed GERD per my online chart… But my family doctor never specifically told me I had GERD. I walked out of the doctors office thinking I was just suffering bouts of heartburn and prescribed Pantaprazole. I wasn’t given clear direction on Pantaprazole either and led to believe I take it only when I have bad symptoms.

To try to make this clearer I have suffered near daily heartburn for about 5 years now. I brought it up to my GP but never pushed it and unfortunately never knew what “normal” was. About 2 years ago I finally had enough and expressed it could be excruciating and interrupt sleep. It was then I was prescribed Pantaprazole, but wasn’t given much in the way of information. Upon looking at my online chart sometime later I see GERD under my list of conditions. I was mad that I hadn’t been specifically told “you have GERD and these are the steps you must take for relief”. I think I would have taken it more seriously then.

My symptoms are burning pain in chest, on bad days nearly all day and pain while/after I eat certain foods or swallow certain liquids. Almost as if burning on the way down. I also tend to have a burning sensation in the same spot (middle of chest) when I breathe deeply.

So my big question is… If they didn’t tell me I had GERD directly, what might they have also missed? Do my symptoms sound consistent with others here? And what are the best ways you’ve found relief? How should I best take the Pantaprazole? On a daily schedule or when I have pain as my doctor suggested?

Sorry I know it is a lot but I am in a bad spot lately as my recent flare up is nearly unbearable and the symptoms are worrying…Especially if you Google too much.

Thank you!